Vilde Rolfsen

Juni 18, 2015

My practice is based around human obsession with objects, and the relationship we have with them. Being born into a use and throw culture, I have found an interest for consumerism, and the way we value objects. Since I started my practice I have been observing how people relate to objects; it is these observations I am trying to explore in my photographs.

My findings have showed me that people take everyday objects for granted, for example a plastic bag or a Brillo pad. You use them for a couple of things, carry your groceries or scrub your dishes. By removing the objects from their original function, I am forcing the viewer to look at the object as an aesthetic thing rather than a useful thing. I challenge society’s perceptions of everyday objects, because these objects are of such normality they become surreal in a photograph.

What started as an obsession for objects has now grown into an interest for the object itself, and an obsession for taking photos of them. By choosing familiar objects that most people can relate to, I create art that can be understood and interpreted on several levels and by most people.

For the project ‘Plastic Bag Landscapes’ I use plastic bags, which I have found in the street. By using light and different colored cardboard, I play with perspective. When the studio lights hits the plastic and the colors shine through, the plastic bag does not look like a plastic bag anymore, but makes the plastic bag look like an imaginary landscape.

I merge commercial and fine art practices, by combining the carefully arranged and the accidental. My images hoover between the casual and deliberate. I often approach my work in an editorial way, retouching and spending a lot of my time working on the image in post-production. This is a way for me to study my work in a more careful manner. It is a time where I can reflect and consider it. Although what I enjoy most about making photographs is to create the sets, the lighting and the placement of the object and the camera. Because for me that’s what it’s really about. Not just clicking a button, but create an image as a whole.